Frank talk about martensite

Isn't 52100 really more of a ball bearing steel? :D

You take a ball bearing and look at it from any angle and the form never changes,... just the reflection of the light off the surface, as you go around and around. LOL :)

It's very MYSTERIOUS!
 
I always scratch my head to think of a case where I would care more about wear resistance than hardness or toughness.

I want hardness to allow aggressive edge geometry, I want toughness so I don't cry if I drop the knife on a cement floor, and I want abrasion resistance so the maker has to work really really hard to make my knife. And cut a lot of sisal rope?

When is abrasion resistance a real-world limiting factor in knife performance? I checked Crucible's site to see what they list for applications for Rex 76, their second most wear resistant steel, and they were:

End Mills
Form Tools
Shaper Cutters
Gear Hobs
Broaches
Spade Drills
Tool Bits
Milling Cutters
Special Taps​

So as a consumer, I would think that abrasion resistance is the thing I'd be willing to give up to get increases in hardness and/or toughness. (And just to make Kevin nuts, I'll say "cryo", but only in the sentence "the loss of toughness for cryo treating A2 is huge in comparison to the abrasion resistance gain".)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top